CBU Earns Road Win at MWC Favorite SDSU

Tuesday, March 26

San Diego

6:05 PM

California Baptist University

17-8

San Diego State

14-10

California Baptist

San Diego State

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Earns Road Win at MWC Favorite SDSU

3/26/2019 8:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications

SAN DIEGO – Clutch hitting, often with two outs, helped California Baptist University in a 5-2 win at San Diego State on Tuesday night.

It's yet another statement win for the Lancers over an Aztec team that was picked to win the Mountain West Conference this year. CBU got it done by batting .444 (4-for-9) with runners in scoring position, and getting four of its nine hits with two outs.

The Lancers improve to 17-8 and drop SDSU to 14-10 on the year. The Aztecs have a storied baseball tradition and have advanced to the NCAA Regionals after winning the Mountain West Championship tournament in five of the last six years.

In 2018, SDSU went 39-21 and took second in the Mountain West's regular-season standings before winning the conference tournament and made the NCAA Regionals as a three seed.

Chris Burica and Matt Amrhein held SDSU's offense in check, with a strong start and finish on the mound, respectively, for CBU. Burica gave up just one hit, one run and struck out four over the first three innings.

Amrhein earned his third save of the season by recording the final 14 outs, giving up just two hits, a walk and striking out five over the final 4.2 innings. He retired the Aztecs in order over the last three innings.

Harrison Spohn, John Glenn and Luke Navigato all had multiple hits for CBU. Glenn went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in, while Navigato and Spohn both had two hits in the win.

Clutch two-out hitting gave CBU a 2-1 lead in the top of the third. Rory Smith led off the inning with a double just inside the right-field line. Billy Rockefeller dropped a two-out single into shallow left center to score Smith from second, and after a wild pitch Navigato drove in Rockefeller with a single through the left side.

Rory Smith leads off the top of the third with a double, and then comes around to score a two-out single to shallow left center from Billy Rockefeller. It ties the game at 1️⃣➖1️⃣ with San Diego State.#LanceUp pic.twitter.com/0uLyb5FyCR
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 27, 2019

Luke Navigato continued the clutch two-out hitting with an RBI single through the left side to score Billy Rockefeller in the third.

CBU takes a 2️⃣➖1️⃣ lead into the fourth inning after another 1️⃣➖2️⃣➖3️⃣ frame from Chris Burica in the bottom of the third. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/zwUpbh1kfn
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 27, 2019

SDSU tied the game with a two-out rally of its own in the bottom of the fourth, but Spohn gave the Lancers the lead right back in the fifth. Spohn hit a two-out solo homer to the opposite field in left on a full count.

That opposite field 💪🏻

Harrison Spohn gives CBU the lead again, with a two-out solo shot to left field. The Lancers go into the bottom of the fifth up 3️⃣➖2️⃣. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/xuCXWuwJWy
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 27, 2019

The Lancers got two big insurance runs in the eighth. Navigato led off the inning with a single up the middle and Andrew Bash drew a five-pitch walk to apply the pressure. Ryan Mota laid down a great sacrifice bunt to put them both in scoring position, and Glenn delivered a timely two-out single past the first baseman and into right field.

📢📢📢

John Glenn delivers with a two-run single past first base and into right field. It scores two to give CBU a 5-2 lead over San Diego State in the top of the eighth inning. #LanceUp pic.twitter.com/m1MeWnOm2R
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) March 27, 2019

CBU resumes Western Athletic Conference play this weekend, hosting Sacramento State Friday through Sunday. Friday and Saturday are scheduled for 5 p.m. first pitches, with Sunday starting at noon.